Cross Encounter
by haelstromn
Summary: During Kazuto’s part-time job, he got sent to a game called Only Sense Online. In there he met a player named Yun, and the both of them worked together to clear a quest. [ a short story with mutiple parts ](set before SAO season 3)


One day, during his part-time job at RATH, instead of the designated world that has been assigned, Kirito woke up in a completely different location the moment he dived into the machine. He found himself on an island in the middle of the ocean. Although he wasn't sure if the place was inhabited or not, he's pessimistic seeing how thick the vegetations are. And he knew that he's still in the virtual world because he was able to open up his menu screen, and the fact that he is currently in his SAO avatar. However the status screen is different than the one he'd known.

(Am I in another game?)

Kirito thought as he surveyed his surroundings, and then checked his status screen again.

—STATUS—

Name: Kirito

Possessed SP 50

Acquired Senses:

[Sword Lv50] [One-handed sword Lv30] [Martial artist Lv30] [See-through Lv20] [Concealment Lv20] [Dual swords Lv30] [Throwing skills Lv25] [Swordsman knowledge Lv20] [Physical increase Lv30] [Hawk eyes Lv14]

Unequipped Senses:

[Fist Lv30] [Kick Lv30]

—End—

The configuration of his stats are the same as when he was in SAO, as well as his avatar that he was using. However he hadn't seen status screens like this before, it's as if his SAO avatar is converted to another game.

(Well I can't get anything done without doing anything, might as well start by exploring the island)

Kirito thought this and immediately began scouting the area.

A few minutes later.

In the distance, Kirito saw what looked like a smoke. _Is that a campfire?_ Kirito thought this while moving towards the location.

When he got there, he immediately knows that the identity of that smoke was actually steam. More specifically, steam from a hot spring. And in that hot spring, sitting there submerged in hot water, a girl with long black hair and black eyes wearing nothing but a towel covering her body. She was submerged in the water up to her shoulders. Although she may not have any assets in her chest, her slim body with light colored skin still attracts the opposite gender.

Such beauty was starting dumbfounded at her invader that came suddenly out of nowhere. The same can be said for Kirito, as he didn't comprehend the situation in front of him. After all, a girl was taking a bath at a hot spring outside in an island that's in the middle of the ocean.

Silence spread the area as both of them stare at each other for a few seconds. It took him that much time to process the situation. As he was about to stare down at her body, Kirito instinctively looks away, with a flushed appearance, knowing that staring at girl naked would be rude and inappropriate. As for the girl herself, she also regained her composure at the same time as Kirito regained his. And she also instinctively covered herself with her arms knowing that someone else had seen her in this revealing form. Another silence occurred only for a few seconds until the girl screamed loudly with a bright red face.

"KYAAAAAaaaaa—!!!"

—XXXXX—

A few minutes later. Kirito and the girl was now standing face to face with each other.

Kirito had spent a few minutes apologizing to the girl.

"I'm so sorry, I thought I saw a campfire from afar, and immediately looked to see if there's any other people"

"I see... well don't worry about it, I also didn't think there'd be anyone else here. I was just around collecting materials when I accidentally fell in a mud. And when I was walking around, I found this place and thought that I'd soak in for a little while"

The girl responded thus while also recounting the events she experienced before this incident. Although it was evident that she was quite depressed at how careless she was to her surroundings. The girl was now wearing a black sleeveless shirt covered by an also black leather jacket with no sleeves, combined with a dark green hot pants. The exposure of her thin limbs is still quite attracting.

"By the way my name is Kirito. Also where are we?"

Kirito begun introducing himself before asking that question, and the girl responded with her own introduction.

"Nice to meet you Kirito, my name is Yun. And I'm also confused on what's going on. The moment I logged in into the game, I found myself in this island'

The girl- named Yun, answered Kirito's question thus as she also appears to be confused as well.

(From her response, it appears that this isn't something that happens normally. And it also proves my suspicion that the STL have malfunctioned again)

Kirito thought this as he recalled that this had happened before, twice. On his first dive in the STL, he got sent into a VR fighting game. In there he was forced to duel a silver avatar named 'Silver Crow'. And a few days after that the STL malfunctioned for the second time. Although this time he didn't have to fight any duel, he did however had an unusual encounter with someone named 'Shiba Tatsuya'. Where he showed Kirito his ability to decompose a 617 digit chiper key, that are composed of two prime numbers, in 10 seconds as if he's a super computer.

"I see— by the way, can I ask you a weird question?"

"Sure"

"...what's the name of this game?"

At a moment Yun looked at Kirito as if he was a weirdo. After all how wouldn't he know the name of the game that he was currently dived in.

"...It's Only Sense Online, did you not looked at the title when you bought this game?"

(Yup, that's how people would really say given the situation)

"Ah, well, you see— there are some circumstances to this"

Kirito struggled to find a reasonable explanation but only ended up being caught in his own words.

(I haven't heard of that game before, was something like that existed)

"Well, if you don't want to tell me then you don't have to"

"Ah, yes. By the way this is another weird question. Have you heard of a game named Sword Art Online?"

After Kirito asked that question, Yun immediately got lost in thought pondering for an answer.

"...nope, never heard of it"

"O-oh, I see..."

(There's no way she hadn't heard of the incident where 10.000 people got trapped in a death game. Am I in a different timeline, or another world all entirely?)

"W-well, anyway. What do we do now?"

Trying to change the subject, Kirito asked this about their next course of action.

"Hmm— let's see. Why don't we find a safe place as a base to rest first. And then looked around the island. I already collected some herbs and food suplies, so we don't have to worry about resources. Too bad I don't have any senses related to woodworking, so I can't build any lodging"

"From the looks of it, you seem to be an experienced crafter"

"Well, My specialty is only involved potions. While I can do some blacksmithing, I can't make anything other than accessories and knives"

"Well that's still better than none. By the way I saw a cave back in the forest for us to stay. Considering that the sun almost set, we should head there immediately"

"Got it"

After a brief interaction, both of them head straight for the cave. They didn't encounter any danger on-route.

—XXXXX—

When they arrived at the cave, the sun already set and darkness spreads the entire island. Kirito brought out his camping supplies, which only consisted of two sleeping bags and a lighter for a campfire. The items made Yun slightly surprised but immediately after that, she brought out her own supplies. Which includes a table, a portable furnace, cooking utensils, and other items involving dosing, synthesis, and alchemy.

(What a collection of items. It's like she was playing some kind of survival game. And from her reaction, the items I brought out were slightly unusual but not abnormal)

After preparing their base camp, Yun checked her menu to see if she can log out of the game.

"Hm? This is unusual"

"What is?"

"I can't log out"

Kirito had a bad feeling but before he could say anything, Yun continues her statement.

"It seems that we're in a special event related area, we cannot leave until we finish the quest. And it also appears that the time here had been accelerated by 100 times"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Hm? It's just like I said, we're in an event related area. You can look it up on your menu screen"

As told, Kirito begun looking into his menu screen to look for such information. After some slight difficulty, Kirito managed to find it in the quest menu.

—Special Event—

—{Q}Cross encounter(1/3)—

—Quest description:

-Regroup with the other player «Cleared»

-Defeat the event boss «Uncleared»

-Re•••••• ••• ••••••s «Uncleared»

—Quest information—

During the duration of the quest, time has been sped up 100 times. Players are unable to logout within the duration of the game.

—End—

As he read through the screen, Kirito sighed with relief knowing that he wasn't in another death game. But he was bewildered by the third condition of the third quest. Because, the content of the quest cannot be seen. Either they must unlock the quest or the game is glitched. That was what Kirito thought as he looked at Yun having the same expression as Kirito.

"Well for now, why don't we rest up first. We can find out the outcome tomorrow"

"Okay"

They agreed and then Yun made preparations for dinner. Since she only had fruits, vegetables, and some bread on hand she proposed having sandwiches for dinner. Yun wasted no time and started cooking, and the both of them sit down at the campfire and ate their dinner together.

"Wow, this is delicious"

"Why thank you, I usually do the housework at home"

"Heeeh"

Kirito's impressed at Yun's sandwich which is almost comparable to Asuna's. They ate their dinner silently since both of them didn't know one another. Can't take the awkward silence, Kirito made a proposition.

"Hey Yun, why don't you sleep first and I keep watch of the first shift. We'll take turn keeping guard for 4 hours"

"Sure, but why would you take the first shift?"

"Well, that's because I have a lot more tolerance at staying up all night. And even though we're in a game, it's still not healthy to stay awake for a long time. And also I'll feel bad for having a girl being assigned as the first shift"

"Oh I see, thank yo- Wait No!! I'm not a girl!"

"Huh??"

"I'm a guy!!"

"HUH!!?"

At the sudden revelation, Kirito was shocked beyond belief. However after a few second of comprehension, he felt awkward at the misunderstanding.

"Ah. Well, sorry. You just looked like a girl to me"

"Don't worry about it, my face was so feminine that the VR device mistook it as a girl during the character creation"

Yun said that with bitter memories at what happened in the past. Kirito immediately tried to find a way to say something reassuring.

"Ah, well- don't worry, I know how you feel"

"Huh, you do?"

"T-that's right. It just so happens that I also have a somewhat feminine face as well. And when I was little people always thought that I was a girl"

Kirito said that while remembering his own bitter memories during childhood, he also recalled at how his avatar looked like while he was in GGO. After Kirito said all this, Yun notices that Kirito's avatar has slightly feminine appearance to it as well. The only reason people wouldn't think he was a girl was because of the way he dressed and how he acted around people. Yun saw that although their faces were different, he can see that the both of them suffered from something similar. If Kirito were to have a longer hair, people will no doubt thought that he's a girl.

"But if you're a guy, then why did you choose a female avatar? Shouldn't there be something that reconfirms ones gender"

"Well, I think there should be. But I'm not really a gamer so I didn't pay attention to something like character customization. I even misspelled my own name. And before I knew it I already got used to it"

"I see, must be tough"

The both of them continue to chat like that as both of them shared their past hardships, until it was time to sleep. Of course, Kirito took the first shift since he had more tolerance at staying up at night. The two of changed shift after 4 hours and before one knew it, dawn struck.

—XXXXX—

In the morning, Yun was the last one on watch, and she- or rather he, was cooking breakfast. Using leftover materials, he was now cooking stew as a light breakfast. A few minutes later Kirito woke up and they both started discussing their activities while they ate breakfast.

"Now then, why don't we start by exploring the island. We'll also be practicing fighting in a party"

Kirito proposes this idea as the start of the day, which was agreed immediately by Yun.

"I don't mind"

After he said that, Yun sent a party invite to Kirito. After reading through the screen that just popped out, Kirito accepted, and a party was formed.

"So then, first we need to know each other's role. I'm a vanguard wielding two one-handed swords. What about you?"

"I'm actually a jack of all trades. Although my main attack power is using the bow, as a side weapon I used knives. I can also use enchantment to buff and debuff a target, as well as some earth elemental magic. I also had a lot of potion, so that made me a rear-guard"

(What sn unusual play-style)

At Yun's odd loadout, Kirito was impressed that someone had a lot of play-style. Although it's not unusual for someone to choose more than one role in a game, just like how Asuna chose both healer and vanguard, and nicknamed the 'berserk healer'. It is abnormal for a player to not only have three, but four- or maybe five role in a game. And that's not even counting her role as a crafter.

After that discussion, the both of them finished up their breakfast and prepared their weapons.

Kirito checked his loadout of weapons, which includes 'Alucidator', a black one-handed longsword, and 'Dark Repulser', a silver with a tinge of blue one-handed longsword, as well as a bunch of needles for throwing, and other consumables.

For Yun he materialized her 'Black Maiden's Longbow', a black longbow, and he checked the numbers of her consumables as well.

After they're ready with their preparations, the both of them set out to explore the island.

—XXXXX—

After a few minutes of strolling in the forest, they found their first enemy. What appeared was a group of goblins, they are short green-skinned humanoid mob, equipped with only a one-handed shortsword. There are 10 of them in total, at it appears that none of them has noticed Kirito's party, since they're 200 meters away.

"Goblins spotted 200 meters away, do you want me to lure them in?"

Yun asked that as he nocked an arrow in his bow. _So he can see them from here as well,_ thought Kirito as he unsheathed his own sword the 'alucidator'. For now Kirito decided to use only one sword to figure out the battle system of the game. And then he affirmed Yun's question with a nod.

"Fuu—, «long range shooting»!!"

Yun activated a skill, or more like an art, and struck a headshot from 200 meters. Kirito thought that Yun's aiming skill is almost as good as Sinon's.

When the first goblin was hit, it immediately disappeared into particles of light, signifying that it's dead. He rest of the goblins were confused and tried to find their attackers. A second shot from Yun hit another goblin. With that last shot, the rest of the goblins managed to locate their location and immediately made a dash towards Kirito's party.

While the goblins are still on route, Yun activated another art.

"«magic bow skill, phantom arrow»!!"

What Yun just shot was a magic imbued arrow. As soon as the arrow were launched, it created five tails and all those tails homed in on a target. As they hit, combined with tha arrow itself, six goblins were eliminated, and only two left. The last two are 5 meters away, and Kirito used «horizontal slash» to eliminate both of them at the same time. As the battle was over both of them let down their guard.

"You know, it's not practicing if you defeated them alone"

"Sorry, it's a habit"

After that they searched again for another enemy, and not long after that they spotted another 10 goblins. This time Kirito decided to try ambushing them instead of luring them.

As Kirito approached within 10 meters, he used «vorpal strike» to attack the one surrounded by four goblins, catching them by surprise. Shock filled the goblins as they hadn't comprehend the situation. Not wasting any time, Kirito used «horizontal square», slashing four times at four different goblins surrounding him. All five of them died instantly. As the rest of the goblins tried to counter attack, an arrow landed at the head of the goblins that led the charge. Giving Kirito time to make another strike at two of them, killing both of them. As for the remaining ones, one was killed by an arrow while the other one had their chest pierced by a sword. After the battle, both of them relaxed their guard.

"What was that you said about working together?"

"Oh, well, sorry. It's a habit"

Kirito made the same excuse as Yun's as they both pretty much didn't need any much assistance. The two solo players continued their hunt all day to practice their teamwork. In that time Kirito managed to comprehend Yun's play-style a bit. What's surprising about Yun however, is his adaptability. Yun managed to adapt her role to the party pretty well. Even with Kirito's high speed attacks, Yun still managed to keep up and provided helpful support. It's easy to see that he is a jack of all trades and a master of none. That in itself is a valuable talent.

(If only we had someone like this during SAO)

Kirito thought about how great it would be to have someone like Yun during their boss fight in Aincrad. Someone like that can juggle multiple roles at once without slowing down anyone, and provide support when a player made a mistake. Someone like that might actually made boss fights a little easier.

After they finished hunting for the day, thoe both of them came back to their base to rest. It was currently midday and it's time for lunch. During hunting they both managed to find not only goblins, but other mobs as well such as; orcs, red-bulls, black spiders, and a cockatrice.

During the battle with cockatrice, they had some troubles considering it's a field boss. So Kirito were made to use two swords. Kirito gains it's hate by attacking in a hit run tactic. And while it's attention is on Kirito, Yun shaved off it's HP from afar. And when it's HP was half depleted Yun threw his magic imbued gems at the mob. The gem was enchanted with an earth elemental magic «explosion», and all of them detonated causing a chain reaction shaving of a lot of the boss's HP. And then Kirito finishes it of by using «star burst stream».

As Yun was preparing lunch, grilled chicken with a salad, he asked a question to Kirito.

"Hey, you used some very interesting skills"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Although I have a friend who uses [dual swords] as well, I didn't see him using something like that. Though it was somewhat similar. And you didn't even use [fifth breaker, a standard yet useful skill that vanguards used"

"O-oh, really? Well, I have my own set of play-style after all"

"I see, well this game does encourages you to find your own play-style, to find your "only ones""

After they finished chatting, they went hunting again until night. As night came covering the island, both players rested until dawn of tomorrow comes out.

—A/N—

This story is a work of fiction, and has nothing to do with real life event, nor does it have anything to do with the original storyline.

—End—


End file.
